Frontier Airlines to begin flights out of Delaware airport

A file photo of a banner hanging near the stairs inside the terminal at Trenton-Mercer Airport. Frontier Airlines, which operates flights out of Trenton-Mercer Airport, announced today that it will also begin flying out of a Delaware airport. Michael Mancuso/The Times

Hoping to duplicate the successes it has seen at Trenton-Mercer Airport in Ewing, Frontier Airlines announced today that it will start flying from New Castle County Airport in Wilmington, Del.

The Denver-based airline said it will begin offering flights from Delaware to two cities in Florida and also to Chicago, Denver and Houston starting in July. The Wilmington airport does not currently have a commercial carrier.

The airport, like Trenton-Mercer, has struggled in the past to keep a viable commercial carrier on board.

“We have had commercial carriers on and off,” said Jim Salmon, spokesman for the Delaware River and Bay Authority which operates the airport.

In 2008 Skybus flew to the airport for about a month before they went out of business, Salmon said. Before that, Delta Airlines offered service to the airport, which sees a lot of charter and private flights, but they left in 2007, he said.

Frontier began flying out of Trenton-Mercer Airport in November, and is the Ewing airport’s only commercial carrier. Trenton-Mercer has struggled to find success with commercial airlines in the past — at least a dozen airlines have tried and failed to establish permanent service at the airport since 1983.

Frontier spokeswoman Kate O’Malley said that the airline has been successful so far with most flights at the Central Jersey airport almost full. This week the airline expanded flights at Trenton-Mercer and now serves 10 destinations. The airline has said its intention is to make Trenton-Mercer an East Coast hub for its operations.

O’Malley said the airline is expecting the expansion into nearby Delaware will complement the services already offered in Trenton. She said that there are no plans to reduce operations.

“I don’t think there will be any negative impact in Trenton,” she said.

The FAA, facing budget cuts, has announced plans to close the Trenton-Mercer air traffic control tower in June. The New Castle airport also has a tower but it is not on the list of FAA closures.

Because the New Castle County Airport has a longer runway than Trenton, O’Malley said it allows the airline to offer a direct flight from the Philadelphia area to Denver, where passengers can connect to many more of Frontier’s destinations.